Turkey’s parliament has ratified the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia by 279 votes to 119, the Times of Israel reported on 6 November, citing the Associated Press. The report says the pact is aimed partly at Houthi threats to Saudi Arabia and that opposition lawmakers object to a possible deployment to Yemen.
Al Jazeera reported on 20 October that the 16-article agreement was signed on 7 August by the three countries. Under it, members would use “all necessary means” to remove threats to each other’s territory and would assist a member facing armed attack, with each deciding the scope of its help; Al Jazeera likened this to Article 5 of the NATO treaty. It also covers defence-industry cooperation, intelligence sharing, joint training and counter-terrorism, sets up a defence committee of foreign and defence ministers, lasts ten years, and lets other states join only with the approval of all three founders.
Burhanettin Duran, the Turkish presidency’s communications director, said the partnership aims to strengthen collective deterrence. President Erdoğan, speaking about the violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, said Turkey was “surrounded by a ring of fire”, according to Al Jazeera, which also noted that ratification alone would not deploy Turkish troops, as that would need separate legislative steps.
Reporting note: The vote result comes from a single liveblog entry relaying AP; I did not find the AP story itself. Terms of the pact are from Al Jazeera’s earlier report. The photograph shows the parliament building and is for illustration only.
Photo: VOA / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
